Perhaps Tomorrow: A Sequel to Even Late Buses Arrive
by Weirdo.Blabber
Summary: [For GraLu Week Day 1; Prompt: Grey][AU] She had always looked at him like he was going to disappear in the blink of an eye; now he knew why. He knew but he said nothing. He pretended not to know anything. He would be content with this for now.


**Late for GraLu week. I'm so sorry**. This is something that I have been working on after I've gotten a query about what Gray did for a living in the "Even Late Buses Arrive" universe. So here it is! This is a quick 2-hour work, i guess? I think there are still some mistakes here so I'll revise this once I see them. But not now... perhaps tomorrow (Hahah, see what I did there?)

 **PS:** I am currently working on Going, Going, Gone. I'm so sorry I'm such a crappy updater. T T ^ T T

* * *

 **PERHAPS TOMORROW**

 **A Sequel to Even Late Buses Arrive**

The wind beat against an unseen assailant. The rain was pouring. The noise water made as it smashed relentlessly on the asphalt muffled all other sounds. Heaven's tears fell like a curtain masking everything in a dark gray backdrop. Two figures emerged from the stairway, one's arm over the other's shoulder, walking awkwardly towards an apartment door.

The wind blew. The rain poured.

Gray and Lucy had met on similar weather conditions a year ago. That day was just as dark, rainy, and cold. Gray could remember the tension between them being so thick it could be touched. It was almost the same as the one between them now; the only thing different may be the fact that Gray found it oddly amusing. Cute, even. But he couldn't say that out loud. He had found early on in their friendship that despite Lucy's mature perspective in life, she handled appreciation poorly. He fought back a chuckle.

Letting go of her hold on his waist, Lucy unwrapped Gray's arm around her shoulder and assisted him toward the wall. Then, she crouched in front of the flower pot and dug around the roots for the key he keeps hidden there. Gray watched fondly at this sight, and thought that he could certainly get used to watching Lucy open the door to his apartment.

Without a word, Lucy grabbed him by the waist again and led him inside his own home with strength that betrayed her frail arms. She left him by the foyer, leaning against the wall, while she took his go-bag to his bedroom. Despite being there only once, Lucy found her way quite well. She maneuvered past the hallway to Gray's room with ease. She fit right in, like a missing puzzle piece to a jigsaw. Perhaps tomorrow, when she was in a better mood, Gray could tell her this.

But not today. Not yet, at least. Because still, the wind blew. The rain poured.

Gray dragged himself towards the kitchen, ignoring the pain in his right side and on his leg. He then proceeded to make himself and his guest a hot cup of coffee. Not that Lucy had ever drunk any of the coffee he's made for her, whether at his home, his office, or her house. It wasn't that she didn't drink coffee. He'd seen her function on the dark drink for days on end when she's stressed or on a deadline for manuscripts. It was just that she refuses _his_ coffee. Gray grimaced knowingly and tried not to dwell on it much.

Lucy finally arrived about two minutes later.

By the time Lucy arrived, Gray had poured two steaming cups of black coffee. As he positioned himself on the kitchen chair, she sat on the countertop in front of Gray. Without even looking at him, she said, "You're an idiot."

He laughed. It was the first thing she had said to him after meeting him on his way out of the hospital. She could have shouted and screamed at him then, but for some reason she held it all back in only to whisper to him in private saying he was an idiot.

It was hilarious.

It was charming.

Lucy kicked the chair he was sitting on but it didn't even budge. It stopped Gray from going on laughing, however, and he looked her in the eyes as he placed the coffee cup on the kitchen table.

"I'm _not_ an idiot," he replied.

"You are! _Ugh_!" she said, for a lack of something better to say. "You're _stupid_ and _reckless_ and _hotheaded_!"

"I'm a _cop_ ," he explained. "Getting shot at is an occupational hazard." The graze on his side and the gunshot wound on his right leg throbbed and he winced.

"I was talking to your partner," she began, "and he said you ran after the guy alone without waiting for backup."

"You sound like my superior." Gray had heard similar words from his unit chief as he was getting stitched up at the emergency room a few hours back. "It wasn't that I _didn't_ wait for backup; it was that I _couldn't_ wait because that guy would have been sure to disappear again if we waited any longer. Besides, my partner is a reliable guy. I knew he was already calling every uniform around the area to our location."

 _And what were you doing talking to Sting Eucliffe anyway_? Gray had made it clear to his colleague that Lucy was off-limits. Maybe he needed to remind him of that one of these days. Once his wounds heal, at least.

The blonde ran her hand angrily across her face. This was something she did whenever there was something she could not quite say to someone. "You are just so- _ugh!_ "

"Hey, we caught the guy. He's probably in interrogation right now and all his buddies will be joining him pretty soon. Besides, it's only the leg, right? It could have been much worse…!"

Lucy kicked him on his injured leg (" _Ow!_ "). "Don't you joke about that, don't you dare!"

"Sorry, sorry," he apologized. "I know you were worried. But like I said, it's all part of the job. I wouldn't be a good agent if I couldn't make split-second decisions."

The blonde looked at him sadly. Gray understood now that when he told her he was a field agent for organized crimes, this was probably not what she had in mind. He felt somewhat sorry that he didn't explain it to her better. She was probably not used to the kind of things he was, and so seeing him bloodied and getting stitched up might have shocked her a lot.

Gray restrained himself from taking her up in his arms. Instead, he put his lip closer to the mug and smelled the bitter-sweet aroma of the hot liquid.

The silence between them made the sound of the heavy rain outside palpable. Sometimes, it would quiet down as if holding its breath, only to break into thundering roar a while later.

"Do you _have_ to be a field agent?" Lucy asked after a while. "When you told me the first time what you did for a living, I knew it would be dangerous… But you seem content and I don't really think I'm in the position to ask you to reconsider. I want to be happy for you, but... At the back of my mind, I'm always worried that when you say you're in the field, you may not come back…

"And I also know that whenever you have assignments, you guys don't eat well enough aside from junk food and coffee; Sting told me. And you don't get enough sleep either. I mean… and you're always in the line of danger… I…"

Her voice faltered.

 _Ah,_ Gray thought. So it wasn't that she was shocked he got shot at. It was deeper than that. Somehow, somewhere inside her, Lucy had a dark grey spot. It was small and hidden in a corner, but it was there out of the reach of the sun. That dark grey spot was just as stormy and dark as the night outside. Maybe today Lucy found herself stepping into that spot, remembering a lot of things and a lot of feelings… Maybe she forgot for a little while the strength that she actually had-the strength she had shown Gray one stormy night a year ago.

She had always looked at him like he was going to disappear in the blink of an eye; now he knew why.

Gray struggled to get himself out of the chair and up in front of Lucy. With a very fond smile, he took his hand and patted her on the head. This earned him a reprimanding look.

"You're a psycho." She narrowed her eyes at his use of the familiar nickname while he continued patting her head. "Where is that woman who was so calm and collected when we first met?"

"Says the guy who was crying and cursing and throwing smartphones."

He smiled. "Yeah… that was really quite a sight, huh?" He struggled to sit beside her on the countertop, but managed to do so without straining his wounds. "And look at me now."

"I don't see much of a difference," she said.

"I'm a better person now, a better man. It's been one heck of a year but the good qualities of _some_ people are rubbing off on me. You know you're one of those, right?"

"You're only saying that because you want me to go off-topic."

He chuckled. "I don't care if you believe me or not, but it's true. I've become a much better man after meeting you-"

"That's-"

"I'm not saying it to your credit alone," he interrupted before she could say something to deflect his praise again, "I'm saying that there are a lot of people out there whom I live for… and doing this job makes me feel like I'm protecting them better, you know? So that I know, when I come home I know they're safe.

"And when I say that, please know that I'm really saying that I'm going to do everything I can to make it _see_ them safe…" He shifted on his seat so he can look at her better, "because what will I do without Lucy Heartfilia's mandatory status report every nine in the evening?"

Giving him a sideways glance, she said, "You have issues."

"Don't we all?"

She chuckled at this and punched him lightly on the leg again. "You're an idiot."

"I will try not to be so idiotic, then."

"And for Pete's sake, eat proper meals?"

"I'll try," he said, finishing his cup of now lukewarm coffee.

Lucy sighed and let herself down from the countertop. She swiped the empty mug beside him and carefully got the other mug that was hers.

"You're still not drinking the coffee I make," Gray pointed out.

"... Because your coffee tastes bad," she said.

But Gray knew better.

He knew that Lucy's previous lover had made her coffee which she enjoyed all the time. He knew that she would crave for the cups he used to make from time to time. He knew that for someone who believes that love arrives for everyone, Lucy was fickle and always second guessing herself and her decisions. He also knew that she loved him. And he knew, somehow he knew, that if she drinks the coffee Gray makes it would be to her an act of betrayal to her beloved.

Gray knew but he said nothing. He pretended not to know anything. And he would continue doing so until the day Lucy would just stop and see him there waiting… probably with a cup of coffee in hand.

"Move over." Gray followed after Lucy and they started doing the dishes he had left on the sink a few days ago.

Lucy started prattling about hygiene and chores. "I can't _believe_ you-"

 _I love you_ , he wanted to say. He wanted to say it for a long, long time. But Gray stopped himself and decided he would be content with this for now. He would be content at Lucy's pace, until the time he was sure she would let him inside.

But not now. Perhaps tomorrow, because outside, it was still raining.


End file.
